Anais
History Origin Anais was the name of a female Mutant who developed the ability to demonstrate feline-like traits. This gave her increased speed, agility, strength and capacity to increase the length of her claws to razor sharp levels to hurt her enemies. At some point, she was inducted into a secret order that worshipped Apocalypse and prepared its pupils for his coming. Thus, Anais a devout followers of En Sabah Nur and a pupil in this order. She was known for her cunning and becoming a skilled hunter that became a testament to her cat-like Mutant ability. Anais was noted for her cruel personality that was something that even Apocalypse would admire and cherish. She would be among the many followers of En Sabah Nur that were known to Ozymandias who served as the Vizier of Apocalypse. The strength of her convictions meant that she believed herself to be the only true servant of Apocalypse whilst the others were lesser servants. It was known that she had served En Sabah Nur across her entire life. By the year 2000, Apocalypse had emerged from hiding and intended to ascend into power by channeling the energy of the Celestial Circuit in order to gain Nate Grey as a vessel for his power. He wuld discard many of his servants in this goal where he was thwarted when Scott Summers broke the transfer process thus leading to En Sabah Nur inhabitating Cyclop's amnesiac body. In the aftermath, Ozymandias selected Anais with the important mission of searching for En Sabah Nur due to her devotion and conviction that marked her above all of his resources. Thus, the Vizier tasked her with the search for his lost master. Though she was dispatched, she never reported back to Ozymandias and in fact disappeared. The Search for Cyclops In reality, a search for either Apocalypse or Cyclops was deemed wasteful as neither were the being they once were. This was because in the lost Scott Summers resided Apocalypse who was gestating in his new vessel and from which En Sabah Nur would be reborn. Anais intended to locate Summers and transfer Apocalypse's essence into her own body to be used as a vessel. This was a goal that Ozymandias was not aware of when he lost contact with her. Anais would manage to locate the amnesiac Cyclops in Libya and offered to reveal his forgotten past after he began facing nightmares as well as visions. After an assassination attempt on his life by Gauntlet, he would willingly follow Anais to the Libyan border. However, Cyclop's visions began to grow worse and he asked Anais for the truth as she promised him answers as to why they were in Libya. However, an angry Anais told him to shut up as he resisted the urges he was feeling and that she could not help him if he denied her the chance to show him his true nature. During this time, they were detained by members of the Libyan army where Anais told Summers to keep quiet and stay where he was. Anais began to use her female viles on the soldiers and stated that she did not have any money but would negotiate an alternative "price" for their safe passage. The soldiers agreed to accept this "toll" and went to follow Anais whilst Cyclops was kept in a van. Meeting somewhat further away, she stated that she was only a woman amongst strong man with the soldiers telling her not to worry. Anais replied by stating that she never did and removed her veil whereupon her feral Mutant form manifested which she used to butcher the Libyan soldiers. As she was attacking, she mocked the soldiers about being "fit" enough to handle her and stated she guess she was wrong as she unsheathed her claws to slay the Humans. One of the last soldiers would beg for his life stating that he had a family and did not want to die though Anais replied by saying everyone died only that some tasted better than others. The fight was briefly interrupted when she heard Summers scream as he generated a powerful optic blast from his eyes into the sky to which Anais stated to the soldier that a great evil was to be reborn whereupon she killed the Libyan. Cyclops eyes would burn briefly as a result and Anais resumed her former guise of wearing a cloak with a veil. When Summers asked what he was, she replied that he was only beginning to see what he truly was since he was a being that was feared for being different yet superior to Humans. Scott would respond by saying that they would keep moving but that he did not entirely trust Anais but he needed her as a guide as he was beginning to like whatever was inside him making him do dark things. Am I Evil? She would remain with Cyclops in Farafirah and was present to calm him when he experienced another traumatic nightmare of seeing Apocalypse. Anais would urge him not to fight these urges but to embrace them. When Summers asked once more on what was happening, she stated that he was a Mutant that was born to dominance and his mind was host to a power beyond comprehension with the pain he was suffering being a blessing. She would further state that they would leave that place in the night in order to journey to Egypt to the lands of Akkaba where all his questions would be answered. Anais would say that she ensure his safe passage as his body contained something that was very percious that she did not want to be ruined. Though claiming that she was doing this for him, Anais would quietly stated that she did not want it ruined for herself. She would later travel to the train station to get a ticket for two though the individual at the counter refused due a plague spreading through the villages. Anais would reveal her feral form to scare the Human into giving her the tickets to Akkaba. By the time she returned, Cyclops was dragged into the sewers by Caliban who had been turned by En Sabah Nur into Pestilence; a member of the Horsemen of Apocalypse. Anais would be searching for him in the sewers where she spied Jean Grey and Nathan Dayspring Summers also searching for Cyclops. However, she would manage to locate them first where she attacked Caliban as she believed him to be a lesser servant that intended to claim Apocalypse's power for himself. At this point, she called Summers as a fool as he was the vessel for Apocalypse's rebirth and that she would guard him to make sure it came to pass. However, she would be confronted by Jean and Cable where a threeway fight would emerge between herself, the X-Men plus Gauntlet present at the scene as well. In the resultant skirmish, the tunnel of the sewer would be damaged that threatened to bury everyone. Anais attempted to stop Cyclops from leaving as he had no comprehension of who he would become but briefly saw Apocalypse's features on Summers face saying that he knew more than she gave him credit for. He would then use his powers to remove Caliban from his position as Pestilence and turned him back to normal. Cyclops would return to his former self and separated from everyone leading to Anais disappearing into the shadows. Found! Anais would manage to arrive first at Akkaba after Cyclops arrived at the ruined settlement that was the birthplace of En Sabah Nur. She would admire Summers tenancity and the way he struggled against pain that led her to comment that many would think that he was En Sabah Nur. Summers would state that he did not need her though she would question this comment stating that she had led him to Akabba and protected him as he was the vessel carrying Lord Apocalypse. She would explain her confusion on Cyclops saying that he rejected his true nature of being a Mutant when he should be embracing and revelling in them. Thus, she did not understand why he tried to keep Apocalypse's essence in check and his rejection of En Sabah Nur as his pain only came when he fought his influence. As such, she urged him to not fight the influence but instead release it into herself as she offered herself as a willing host. Initially, Summers was tempted in passing this burden to someone else but refused at which point an angry Anais decided to forcibly take the essence from Cyclop's body. The struggle was interrupted by the arrival of Cable who introduced himself and went his frustrations of Apocalypse at her. Her defeated form lay present in front of Nathan though Anais taunted Dayspring on his righteous feelings but that the assassin Gauntlet had been sent by someone he knew amongst those he called friend. A confused Nathan relented in his attack long enough for Anais to escape. Thus, her plans failed and Apocalypse emerged from Cyclop's body where he did battle with Nathan Dayspring Summers and defeated him. However, En Sabah Nur was forcibly kept in place by Jean Grey's telepathic powers where Anais was present hidden in the shadows and was witness to the fight. Apocalypse's essence would be separated from Scott Summers by Jean Grey whereupon En Sabah Nur was seemingly killed when his essence was speared by Cable's Psimitar. Powers and Abilities *'Feline Powers' : Anais's ability allowed her to develop cat-like traits which allowed her to transform her roughly Human appearance to more feline ones such as stripes and a tail. **'Claws' : she was able to extend the length of her claws allowing her to use it as weapons against her enemies. Notes *There exists another character in the Marvel Universe named Anaïs who is a cat-themed huntress in Les Les Heroes de Paris. *Though not stated in the story arc, its possible that Anais may be affiliated with Clan Akkaba. *Since her initial appearance, the character has not featured beyond "The Search for Cyclops" story arc and its unknown whether she retained her powers after M-Day. Trivia *The name Anais is derived from the Persian goddess of love, Anahita, or its Armenian counterpart, Anahit. Links *http://marvel.wikia.com/Anais_(Earth-616) *http://www.comicvine.com/anais/29-19207/ Category:Villains